The Achievement Junkie

A pulse of deep purple energy appeared in a dimly lit cavern. It only lasted a moment, but it left four figures behind as it dispersed.

'What floor are we on now?' asked Argyle.

'This should be the first floor, the easiest of the dungeon. This shouldn't take too long. But let's not exterminate everything we see. I'll be happy to break lv. 50 by the end of this place, so the later floors will be enough for that.' Feeling a bit tinge of regret about forcing extinction upon the jakals, Jack wanted to keep the dungeon intact as much as possible.

'I guess we can make that happen. But if something attacks, then I'm killing it.'

Jack chuckled, 'sure, go for it. But with you in the party, we'll be attacked less than you'd think. A lot of the mobs on this floor are simpleminded. The threat on this floor is if you get overrun by too many weaker monsters.'

'Oh… That sounds boring.' Argyle shrugged.

'At least I can save my energy for this floor,' added Tralon. 'Now let's hurry. I want to get to the fifth floor as soon as possible.'

'Really, why's that?'

'You don't know this, Jack, but the fifth floor is my favorite floor. Both the fifth and the tenth floors are very reminiscent of your adventuring style and are very different from typical dungeons.'

'Now that sounds like fine!' Argyle smiled. 'Where to, Jack? I want to see this fifth floor.'

'We have to reach the end of the tunnel, that's all. But we'll have to hurry, so I think Argyle should rest on Bowzer for a while.'

'Then please, excuse me.' Tralon happily climbed atop the nimble fox.

'Right, then let's go!'

As if a race had just begun, Argyle, Jack, and Bowzer bolted head-first into the dim cavern, not caring about what may try to attack them.

Like Jack had stated before, more creatures avoided the party with a lv. 71 swordsman instead of attacking. Occasionally, they would run into a beast stupid enough to test them, but it always ended with a single swing of Argyle's sword.

The end was quickly found and the circle was activated.

Suddenly, Argyle was perplexed. He and the rest of the party were now outside on a path climbing a mountain. 'What is this?'

'This is the second floor,' answered Jack. 'I told you that I made this dungeon different than the rest. This floor is a bit misleading. Want me to explain why now or do you want to figure it out?'

'Is it misleading but fun?' questioned Argyle.

'Nah, it's just misleading. Starting on the fifth-floor things will get fun and will start to take us a bit longer to complete.'

'Then just tell me so we can hurry up and reach the fifth floor.'

Jack smiled. 'The goal of this floor isn't to reach the mountain peak, it's to reach the center of the mountain. There is a teleportation circle at the top of the mountain, but it will only bring you back to where we are now. We need to find the secret entrance to the mountain then hurry and reach the next circle.'

'Wow… You're one pesky pestro, Jack,' laughed Argyle.

'Come on, let's hurry up. Maybe those fools will fall for the stalling tactic and give us even more time,' stated Jack.

Argyle led the way, but Jack and Bowzer remained at his side, letting Jack inform Argyle on where to go and how to find the hidden entrance to the center of the mountain.

Though dealing with the beasts only took a swing of Argyle's sword, Jack was still surprised by the increase in levels. The first two floors only had basic mobs in order to make the daring adventurers exploring the dungeon feel confident about their ability to survive the dungeon, only to take things up a notch in terms of physical and mental difficulty in later levels.

Yet, on the first to floors, the majority of mobs weren't lv. 55. They varied between lv. 56 to lv. 59. And they even ran into a lv. 60 along the way.

This made Jack both curious and worried. Of course, he wanted to see how the dungeon he had created in a videogame had evolved in real life. Also, he was worried about the last half of the dungeon, especially the boss on the eleventh floor. Jack had a way to deal with the boss based in the past, but there was no telling whether past methods would still prove to be functional or not.

After a couple of hours, the party had managed to find the hidden entrance and found the circle hidden within the mountain.

'Is there anything else or can we hurry to the fifth floor?'

'Let's rest here for an hour.'

Giving Jack a confused look, Argyle asked, 'An hour, why so long?'

'Because I'm not sure what level the mobs on the fifth floor will be or how many we'll find there,' answered Jack.

'Then tell me more about this place while we rest,' Argyle insisted as he sat down cross-legged before the teleportation circle.

Bowzer laid down as Tralon and Jack also took a seat.

'Since Tralon remembers the fifth floor so well, how about we have him talk about it.' Jack looked to Tralon and nodded.

'Well, the fifth level is the most deceiving level in all of the dungeon, apart from the crafty and tricky tenth floor,' explained Tralon. 'The fifth floor is a giant labyrinth filled with treasures and monsters alike.'

'There are treasures on the fifth floor?' Argyle's ears perked up. 'What kind of treasures? How come those treasures aren't hidden within the vault?'

'Because these treasures serve a purpose, to mislead you and everyone else willing to traverse the dungeon.'

'To mislead me? How so?'

'Not only is the entire fifth floor a labyrinth made of roxite--'

'Roxite?! The entire thing is made of roxite?'

'Yes, Argyle. So were those doors we opened up and most of the dungeon is made of the stuff,' mentioned Tralon. 'Now, not only is the fifth floor a labyrinth made of roxite, but you'll have to be wary of all the treasures strewn about the level.'

Argyle squinted as Tralon continued, 'Some treasures will be genuine, but most will be false and will attack you should you choose to interact with them.'

'Attack if you interact with them… If the false treasures aren't really treasures, then are they some kind of mob?'

'Good guess, Argyle!' Jack gave his father-in-law a thumbs up. 'Got any guesses as to what kind?'

'Knowing how sneaky you are, you probably built a giant labyrinth and filled it with mimics to catch unsuspecting people off guard and kill them.'

'I guess you do know me pretty well,' laughed Jack. 'That's why we'll have to be extra careful on the fifth floor. Some mimics may attack outright or they could wait for you to try and pick them up. Either way, it's a great scare tactic and a good way to catch inexperienced adventurers off guard.'

'Or to take their stuff after they die?'

'Wow, you do know me well!' Jack sprung up to his feet and chuckled.

'Nah, I just understand you're sense of humor. Why did you build this place again? Are you sure it wasn't because you got bored?'

Laughing loudly, Jack looked Argyle in the eyes. 'If you put it that way, yeah, I was very bored at the time and I wanted to mix things up. That's why things are so different on each floor. I wanted a single dungeon to contain all of my favorite things from other dungeons.'

'Man… You're a pestro through and through… But I like that!'

Glad to see his father-in-law excited for the fifth floor, Jack grinned and decided not to reveal all of the fifth floor's secrets just yet. He wanted to see how much fun Argyle could have with the secret mini-boss.